1. Field
This invention relates to improvements in demountable structures such as cabinets which can be used for display purposes and to a joint arrangement for use in demountable structures.
2. Description of Related Art
In our U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,284 there is disclosed a cabinet which is demountable. The cabinet has walls which are joined edge to edge by joiner elements. At the apex of each intersection of the walls there is a retainer. The retainers prevent the joiner elements from being removed. One of the retainers which is the last to be installed when the cabinet is assembled is lockable. This lockable retainer needs to be unlocked and removed before any of the other joiner elements and retainer elements can be removed so as to disassemble or demount the cabinet.
The cabinet according to WO 99/08575, which has an English equivalent of U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,284, has been extremely successful especially in the museum environment. One of the attributes of the cabinet is that it can be assembled around the object or objects to be displayed. This is particularly useful where the object is large and would otherwise be difficult to engage an assembled cabinet over the object(s). Thus the object can be placed on one side of the cabinet and then the remainder of the cabinet assembled around the object by progressively positioning the sides and top panels edge to edge, insertion of the joiner elements and the retainers.
The cabinet of U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,284 also exhibits good strength characteristics when assembled. This is despite the fact that the walls are joined edge to edge by a joiner element of overall small cross sectional dimensions.
According to the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,284 the edges of the walls are profiled and the joiner element has a cross sectional profile which is slid on to the adjacent profiled wall edges (the panels being located at right angles to one another). As a result the joiner element couples the profiled edges together to provide a sound and secure manner. This has worked successfully, however, we have now developed further the joiner element and the profiles of the edges such that assembly of the joint between panels is further facilitated by making it easier to slide the joiner element on to the profiled edges of the adjacent wall panels. Also a stronger join is achieved.